


[caged bird]

by boychic



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-02-01
Updated: 2012-02-01
Packaged: 2017-10-30 11:44:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boychic/pseuds/boychic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake always keeps the spoils of his conquests close.</p><p>Written for the Homestuck Kink meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [daylight]

**Author's Note:**

> Written for this prompt: homesmut.livejournal.com/15023.html?thread=28519599#t28519599

In one of the ruined segments of tower scattered about the island, there is a brassy cage in the midst of a sea of clutter. It is a room being reclaimed by nature, an arterial lattice of  
vines and fuzzy patches of fungi patterning the walls and arching into the ceiling. The room is claustrophobic, littered cheifly with the gold coins of some ancient civilization. Sun- browned shelves lean in toward one another dangerously, crowding the cage. Fossils and gems, broken pottery and the skinlesss skulls of  
animals litter the floor, the spoils of a thousand conquests. The rotting roof splits to let a ray of light fall across his body.

 

Tavros has already pulled away the black covers his master painstakingly worked to drape over the cage each night. It is a small act of rebellion. Always small acts of rebellion. He  
doesn't have the strength for much more, not even to push himself up from his position on the cage floor in a tangle of pillows and thin blankets. The weak Earth sun barely stings against his cheek while he watches dust motes dance in the lights. He thinks that, maybe, if he has time, he should call in the birds.

 

He's humming.

 

It's the Fiduspawn theme, something comforting. He barely notices he's doing it. Sometimes he sings for Jake, for Master. Human songs, "bawdry ballads and jaunty jingles". In his reverie, he nearly misses the squeal of metal hinges. Jake's face eclipses his vision, reduced to shadow with his back to strong sunlight.

 

"Egad! Lying in the sun again, pet? I'm going to have to rough you up a bit today." He is dragged up from the from the floor unceremoniously to his feet. He can walk now, but not without difficulty. The joints in his legs have begun to rust on the humid island. "Chipper up, boy! You look like hell. We'll get you washed up today." He pats Tavros's matted hair lightly. Jake is standing directly in the light, features illuminated. Tavros takes in those deep jade eyes and lightly furrowed brows, the two teeth worrying at his lower lip charmingly and the glasses perched upon the thin bridge of his nose. He looks like one of the terrible, beautiful angels of Alternian mythology.

 

Maybe he doesn't want to think of Jake as an angel.

 

"M-master, uh," His voice is whisper-quiet. "Can you... Will you let me, uh... I-I want to go somewhere else." Jake's expression sours, and his fingers are suddenly under Tavros's collar, pulling him close roughly.

 

"This again? Gadzooks, man! It's as if you have a death wish." He intones, impassioned but not upset. "You and I both know there's nowhere for you to go, on this planet. Governmentagencies would love to get their mitts on you." He pulls Tavros up further by the collar, choking him for a moment. They hold eye contact, his own dark eyes wide and fearful.

 

"They'll slice you into fine cutlets... Just like they did with your friends." This wrings a sob from the troll's throat, and Jake lets him fall against the bars of the cage. Before he's even slid all the way to the floor, Jake has his kercheif out and is daubing up thick brown tears as they roll from his eyes.

 

"There, there. I know it's not easy."


	2. Chapter 2

Minutes later, Jake's thumb is insistent under his eye, rubbing away the last of his tears.   
  
"Oh, I don't mean to upset you Tavros. I really don't. But we can't have you gallivanting all over this island." The arms that wrap around his lower back and shoulders are gentle this time. The silky kercheif flutters away, through the bars of the cage and lost to the clutter of the room. Jake carries him the way he's seen human wives carried, in the magazines Jake lets him leaf through. He still has to be careful of his horns when he relaxes, settling the bar of one over Jake's shoulder.   
  
"Can I, uh, can I bring one in with me?" Jake's eyes tick down to look at him sidelong before he tilts his head down.   
  
"The little fairy bulls? Just a few, unless you can keep them off of me." He enunciates, making sure Tavros understood. "Keep anything larger clear of our path." This was a treat. Tavros let the tips of his fingers settle against his temple and focused. For him, communion is a moment of the sharpest clarity. He can reach out to any animal on Hellmurder island, a smorgasboard of creatures able to do his bidding. But communion is so much more than that: It is a way of connecting with the pale blue birds that twitter around his cage, of truly understanding his animal companions, rewarded by the elation of gaining their trust and friendship. The larger ones have the weakest minds   
  
and are easiest to pick out on the psychic plane. He guides the closest of his canimal onsorts away from his physical body, then pulls for the presence of the ones he knows best. All it takes is a simple tug, so he slips out of communion and waits. Jake keeps moving among the thickets of vines as the distant din of flickering wings grows closer, until it is unbearably loud and the tiny fairy bulls fly in a quick stream above them, crowded like a school of fish. He holds tight onto his master's shoulders while they pass above him, and Jake even stops moving to watch the spectacle.   
  
When Jake looks back down at him with an eyebrow quirked, his cheeks burn with copper blood.   
  
"I-I just wanted to see them, really." Jake chuckles, and he adds hurriedly, "I hope you're not, uh, mad!" Jake shakes his head.   
  
"Why would I be upset, pet?" Jake hums, rubbing small circles into his back. They press on, nearing the segment of fallen tower housing the food and ablut... showering facilities. "As long as you aren't trying to get yourself fitted for a chicago overcoat..." He trails off there as he steps onto even ground and kneels to let Tavros maneuver himself onto the ground. Jake produces a leash from his sylladex and clips it into his collar, then stands and leads him toward the entrance. They veer off toward the side of the ruin, where a spindly, naked tree grew in the shade. "I know you do rather like it out here." He lays a kiss to Tavros's forehead, an incredibly warm hand petting one sensitive horn for a moment. "Limber up, brinb your little fairy bull friends down to play. I'll bring you your food."


End file.
